This lentil mushroom burger is baked, oil-free, and held together with a flax egg instead of a real one, built on baharat, the Arabic and Levantine spice blend, with mushrooms caramelized in maple syrup instead of oil. It makes 8 patties and brings together lentils, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, garlic, cilantro, and parsley for their specific healing properties.
Key takeaways
- This lentil mushroom burger gets its depth from mushrooms caramelized in maple syrup instead of oil.
- The patties are held together with a flax egg and chickpea crumbs, so there is no oil and no egg anywhere in the recipe.
- Baharat, an Arabic and Levantine spice blend of black pepper, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, and paprika, gives the burger its warm flavor.
- Mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, garlic, cilantro, and parsley each bring specific healing properties, including zinc, antioxidants, and heavy metal support.
- The recipe makes 8 patties that bake in about 20 to 22 minutes total.
- Lentils are cooked without added fat here, which keeps them easier on the liver according to Medical Medium® Information.
- The burgers pair well with collard greens, oil-free caramelized onions, and a spicy tahini cilantro or tomato chutney sauce.
Baharat is the spice blend I reach for when I want food to taste like the kitchens I grew up around. Black pepper, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, and paprika. It is warm rather than hot, and it turns very ordinary ingredients into something that tastes like it took far more effort than it did.
The name baharat is simply the Arabic word for spices. The blend comes from Arabic and Levantine kitchens, with roots in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. There has never been one official recipe for it. Every family makes it a little differently, and so does every region. The Gulf version leans on dried lime, while the Turkish version often includes mint. The one I give below is my own, and if your store does not carry baharat, you can mix it yourself from spices you most likely already have.
My children wanted burgers, and I wanted a burger I could actually eat, and the two of us met somewhere in the middle with a bowl of lentils and a pan of mushrooms.
The mushrooms cannot just be cooked. They have to be caramelized, and I use maple syrup to do that without oil. The mixture turns slightly sticky, and that stickiness is what gives the whole burger its depth.
What makes this lentil mushroom burger different
This is an oil-free vegan burger, and there is no egg either. The patties are held together with a flax egg made from ground flax and water, and with chickpea crumbs instead of breadcrumbs.
I want to be honest about one thing, because people following Medical Medium® often ask me about this. Oil-free is not the same as fat-free. The pumpkin seeds and the flax in this burger are fats, and they are there on purpose, both for what they hold together and for what they contain. If you are in the middle of a fat-free stretch, this is a recipe to come back to afterwards rather than one to squeeze in.
Healing ingredients
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are high in zinc, and they are what gives this burger its depth. Button, baby bella, white, or crimini all work. What matters is cooking them until every bit of liquid has gone and the maple syrup has caramelized around them.
Crimini are worth picking up if the store has them.
“Crimini mushrooms are also excellent for strengthening the immune system and can significantly lower the risk of colds, flu, ear infections, bronchitis, swollen glands, sore throats, and chronic infections.”
They are a good source of vitamins E, B12, and D, and of minerals such as zinc, selenium, iron, and calcium. They also carry an antioxidant compound called L-ergothioneine, which is important for cognitive function, eye health, reproductive health, and lung health.
“They also have powerful anti-inflammatory properties that can effectively regulate inflammation in the heart, joints, organs, and tissues.”
Additional mushroom-based recipes you might enjoy:
Lentils
Lentils are the safest of the legumes in that they are the easiest to digest. They are easier on the digestive system than beans and chickpeas, and they carry a great deal of stored glucose, which is what a seed lives on before it becomes a plant. That stored glucose is also how they help build back glucose reserves.
Sprouted lentils are better still. Sprouting turns them from a filler food into a healing food, and once they are sprouted they can be eaten raw or cooked. TruRoots is one brand that sells them already sprouted.
One condition comes attached to all of this. Lentils belong in a meal with no overt fat in it. Cooked that way they are much easier on the liver, and that is exactly how they are used here.
Red onion
Red onion cooks down in the pan with the mushrooms and the maple syrup, and it does far more than sweeten the mixture. Onions are the richest food source of quercetin, a potent antioxidant.
“These sulfur compounds also act as a heavy metal detoxifier and can help to safely remove mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and lead from the body.”
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds are one of the very few foods that carry any zinc at all. There is not much zinc left in our food supply.
They bring a great deal more than that with them.
“They contain high amounts of vitamin E, B-complex, magnesium, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids.”
The seeds are also an excellent source of tryptophan, which is critical for good quality sleep and for keeping anxiety and depression at bay, and they carry anti-inflammatory properties that benefit anyone dealing with chronic inflammation such as sinusitis, arthritis, or bursitis. For men they offer significant protection for the prostate gland.
There is a recommendation in Life-Changing Foods that is worth knowing: eat pumpkin seeds together with collard greens and the zinc in both becomes available to you. That is why the greens are in the serving suggestion below and not as an afterthought.
Garlic
Garlic is highly medicinal! It is antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-mold, anti-parasitic, and anti-worm, and it is rich in the phytochemical allicin, a sulfur compound that prevents disease.
“It’s perfect to fight colds, flus, strep throat, pneumonia-causing bacteria, and viral-related cancers. It can also help extract some toxic heavy metals in the colon and gives you a powerful immune boost.” Life-Changing Foods (pg. 594; page may differ by edition)
Cilantro
Cilantro is an incredible herb! It helps to pull heavy metals and detoxify the liver. Being antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-worm, it also helps suppress the level of pathogens in the body.
Half a cup goes into the mixture, which is a proper amount rather than a garnish. To learn more about this herb, read my blog – Let’s Talk Cilantro, which includes a bonus Heavy Metal Guacamole recipe.
Parsley
Parsley is in here for more than the flavor. It is rich in trace minerals, including magnesium, sulfur, iron, zinc, manganese, selenium, iodine, and calcium, plus B vitamins and vitamins A, C, and K.
“Used appropriately and on a regular basis, parsley can alkalize the entire body, crossing body systems and driving out acidity across the board.” Life-Changing Foods (pg. 635; page may differ by edition)
Alongside the cilantro, it also works on what the body is carrying.
“It’s also a fantastic anti-DDT weapon. It has a great chelation effect that can pull out stores of herbicides and pesticides such as DDT and even certain toxic metals that you never knew were hiding in your body and holding you back.” Life-Changing Foods (pg. 636; page may differ by edition)
Cumin
Cumin is the backbone of the baharat blend, and it is an incredible spice for digestive trouble. It helps with indigestion, dyspepsia, stomach cramps, gastritis, bloating, constipation, nausea, and flatulence, and it helps the body absorb and assimilate nutrients from everything it is cooked with, which matters in a meal built on lentils.
Cumin seeds also contain vitamins E, A, and B-complex, and they are abundant in minerals such as zinc, selenium, iron, calcium, and manganese. They carry anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties that have been shown to reduce the risk of stomach, colon, and liver tumors.
Beyond digestion, cumin is known to help with colds, flu, insomnia, asthma, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, muscle spasms, and arthritis.
Baharat Spiced Lentil Mushroom Burger
Ingredients
- ¾ cup organic button, baby bellas, white or crimini mushrooms
- 2 cups organic cooked lentils soaked and boiled
- 2 tbsp organic maple syrup
- ¾ cup organic red onion chopped
- ½ cup organic cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup organic parsley chopped
- 3 cloves organic garlic finely chopped
- 4 tsp organic tomato paste
- ½ cup organic chickpea crumbs
- 3 tbsp organic flax egg
- zest of 1 organic lime
- 1 tbsp organic coconut aminos optional
- ⅓ cup organic pumpkin seeds
- 2 tsp organic Baharat spice blend
- sea salt to taste
Flax egg
- 1 tbsp organic ground flax meal
- 3 tbsp water
Baharat spice blend
- 2 tsp organic ground black pepper
- 1½ tsp organic ground coriander seed
- 1½ tsp organic cinnamon powder
- 1½ tsp organic ground cloves
- 2 tsp organic ground cumin
- ½ tsp organic cardamom powder
- 1½ tsp organic nutmeg
- 3 tsp organic paprika
Instructions
Flax egg
- Mix together and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes, until slightly congealed. This makes the equivalent of one egg.
Baharat spice blend
- If you only have whole spices, grind them in a dry grinder before using.
Burger patties
- Cook the mushrooms with the maple syrup, onions, and garlic, adding water as needed to prevent sticking, until the mushrooms are well cooked. The mixture will be slightly sticky because of the caramelized maple syrup.
- Add 1 ½ cups of the cooked lentils, the cooked mushrooms, cilantro, parsley, tomato paste, coconut aminos if using, flax egg, pumpkin seeds, and the baharat into a food processor and mix well. The texture should be slightly chunky.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the lime zest, the rest of the lentils, and the chickpea crumbs.
- Divide into 8 equal parts and shape into patties.
- Bake at 400 F on a parchment lined baking tray for 15 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, until golden brown.
How to serve
I love serving these burgers with my oil-free caramelized onions, and with a pile of collard greens alongside, so that the greens and the pumpkin seeds are on the same plate.
Here are some options of sauces that pair well with this plant-based burger: Spicy tahini cilantro or Tomato chutney.
Final thoughts
The flavors in this mushroom burger recipe are the ones I grew up cooking with, and the format is the one my children asked for. I did not want to keep making two dinners, and I did not want the healing version to be the sad version.
When you are cleansing and a craving for something savory and substantial turns up, these are worth having in the freezer. I wrote about where those cravings come from in Cleanse Cravings.
To your peace and happiness,
Muneeza
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I freeze Baharat spiced lentil mushroom burger patties?
Yes. Bake the full batch, let the patties cool completely, then freeze them in a single layer before transferring to a sealed container or bag. Reheat straight from frozen in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, which usually takes about 15 minutes.
What can I use instead of chickpea crumbs in this vegan burger recipe?
Any dry, unsweetened crumb works in the same amount, including gluten-free breadcrumbs or crushed rice crackers. The chickpea crumbs mainly help the patties hold their shape, so the substitute just needs to absorb moisture the same way.
Can this lentil mushroom burger be pan-fried instead of baked?
Yes, though the oven method is what keeps this recipe oil-free. If pan-frying, use a nonstick pan over medium heat and add a few tablespoons of water or vegetable broth as needed to prevent sticking, and flip once the patties are firm enough to hold together.
